The idea behind the Homeless Bed Collection was to showcase for real how does it feel to sleep on the streets of Tokyo by turning the streets where homeless people sleep into real beds.

The collection was built by the finest Japanese artisans; using elements that mimic the streets of Tokyo. From rough asphalt to mud, from dirty cement to stinky sewer lids with rats, the beds replicated in detail the horrible conditions that thousands sleep in every night.

The collection was displayed at Megamax’s flagship store and forced innocent consumers shopping for beds to be confronted by the problem.

Each bed in the collection had a name to highlight where it might be found – The Underpass, The Car Park, The Pavement, The Station Bench and the displays went on to explain the personal story of the people who were sleeping in these places.

For a week The Homeless Beds Collection was displayed at Megamax flagship store. During this period Moyai took the opportunity to raise awareness and collect donations.

The collection was built by the finest Japanese artisans; using elements that mimic the streets of Tokyo. From rough asphalt to mud, from dirty cement to stinky sewer lids with rats, the beds replicated in detail the horrible conditions that thousands sleep in every night.

A catalogue and a seemingly innocent micro site caught consumers by surprise and invited them to further donate. The collection was also promoted with posters and a street activation where pedestrians could learn the stories of several spots where homeless people sleep and donate directly to the homeless person.

For an unexpected finale, the beds ended up in an art gallery in Tokyo, as they became art pieces in themselves.

Donations increase of 37%. More than 2,000.000 YEN collected.

The Homeless Beds collection brings the problem of homelessness to life in a way impossible to be ignored. The horrible conditions where more than 10,000 homeless people sleep every night on the street of Tokyo were meticulously replicated to create a set of beds powerfull enough to shock the public out of their complacency.

The collection was displayed at Megamax’s flagship store and forced innocent consumers shopping for beds to be confronted by the problem.

The Homeless Beds collection was aimed at young urban adults that are constantly confronted with the problem of homelessness throughout Tokyo but never react upon it.

The strategy was to confront and surprise in a way that they would be forced to pay attention to the issue, but also have the chance to learn more and donate in the simplest form possible.

The headline:

More than 10.000 Japanese sleep on the streets every night.

Your donation can help giving them a proper bed.

Was extremely efficient on delivering the facts and immediately afterwards made a call to action, that allowed consumers to react on the spot.

The store activation was supported by an online and offline communication effort always using the same strategy of catching consumers by surprise, while they were checking a seemingly innocent beds’ catalogue or a online beds’ shop.

The number of homeless people in Japan is increasing year on year. More than 10,000 homeless people can be seen every night sleeping on the streets. Moreover, support is always hard to come by as homelessness is seen as a personal failure, the fate that one brings upon oneself.

With this social panorama, Megamax, Japan’s leading bed and furniture mega store decided to team up with Moyai, the Japanese Association for the Homeless, to shock the public out of their complacency and raise awareness of the issue. All while collecting donations.